TwoGuysBBQ wrote:Ok I guess I'm back in on this discussion I too cook on a stick burner and always will do it that way. I don't care what the other guys cook on as you stated at the end of the day its the food that's being judged. I stand taller when we place higher than the other guys as we all should.

ALL I said was rules are rules and the # 5 rule states what it states. Bottom line is electricity is being used to complete the product. Am I reading or misinterpreting this?

Where does it end?Should we ban all electric devises including digital thermometers?

A BBQ pit/smoker may include the use of electricity for starting the combustion of wood or wood products, and used during competition to operate auger fed units, rotisseries and power draft fans that provide automatic temperature control.

A BBQ pit/smoker may include the use of electricity for starting the combustion of wood or wood products, and used during competition to operate auger fed units, rotisseries and power draft fans that provide automatic temperature control.

simple and to the point with no questions.

If you are a member of the IBCA then submit the rule change to your Pit boss so they can submit it to the board for vote.

Pellet smokers are perfectly acceptable to compete with. You are correct an electric powered auger is used to feed the fire however it does not do the cooking. The cooking is done with wood or wood products. Pellets are made from wood like charcoal so all is good. Pellet cookers are allowed across the country by other sanctioning bodies. I would not suggest pellet cooker be disallowed.

Pellet smokers are perfectly acceptable to compete with. You are correct an electric powered auger is used to feed the fire however it does not do the cooking. The cooking is done with wood or wood products. Pellets are made from wood like charcoal so all is good. Pellet cookers are allowed across the country by other sanctioning bodies. I would not suggest pellet cooker be disallowed.

Thank you.

Craig SharryIBCA Exec Director

How can he make a statement like that? Of course the ELECTRIC auger does the cooking, just like the thermostat and the fan do. It plays just as important a role in the cooking process as the wood pellets. The pit master has only to fill the bin with pellets and set the temp. Oh I forgot........and plug it in.

Mark wrote:Pellet smokers are perfectly acceptable to compete with. You are correct an electric powered auger is used to feed the fire however it does not do the cooking. The cooking is done with wood or wood products. Pellets are made from wood like charcoal so all is good. Pellet cookers are allowed across the country by other sanctioning bodies. I would not suggest pellet cooker be disallowed.

Thank you.

Craig SharryIBCA Exec Director

How can he make a statement like that? Of course the ELECTRIC auger does the cooking, just like the thermostat and the fan do. It plays just as important a role in the cooking process as the wood pellets. The pit master has only to fill the bin with pellets and set the temp. Oh I forgot........and plug it in.

So wood fired rotisseries should be banned as well? I have a friend who built a rotisserie that is wood fired only and he has to maintain the fire just like an offset but he uses electricity to rotate the carousel.

There is still some bones left I am just trying to figure out if the ones that want the pellet cookers banned is because they get more sleep or is it the electricity part. If its the electricity part then rotisseries should go as well even though your feeding a fire.

The debate isn't as cut and dried as what some people may think. And that goes for both sides of the discussion. This particular discussion has a lot of merit actually. Me personnaly, I am an old traditional offset cooker myself. It is how I was taught and raised on how to cook BBQ. With the exception of a gas grill built into my outdoor kitchen, cooking on a traditional offset stick burner is the only way I have ever done, and will continue to do it. It may very well just come down to progress, with the inception of these pellet cookers and the ceramic oven type cookers, people now have a way to cook what is probably really good BBQ, with a much easier and efficient method vs what I use. The only real problem I have with it is you lose a tradition. And that is somewhat disappointing to me that tradition doesn't mean to people what it means to me. Doesn't really make it right or wrong, but tradition goes out the window. And that to me is sad.

So I really don't have a huge issue with folks showing up to a cookoff and plugging a pellet cooker in and then going to bed. They are the ones that will sleep through the party, not me. I have a bigger problem with what is being done to the meat these days prior to it being cooked than I do with what it is being cooked on. But that is a different debate for a different day.